Branches of weeping willows, an abundance of summer lotuses, the light breeze carrying the faint fragrance of jade lotuses, brought forth ripples on the water surface that reflected the silvery scales of the swimming fish that appeared on the surface. A snow-white heron suddenly spread its wings, its long legs gracefully sweeping over the surface of the water, passing a lotus leaf before revealing itself again with a slender silvery-white fish, half the size of a chopstick, in its long beak.
ZiLi lay on a rattan chair padded with soft felt, his eyes half closed as he stared blankly at the scenery from the carved window, lost in thought. Chun Lan stood to the side, next to a jade basin filled with ice cubes, fanning with a Qing Luo Xiao Fan 1 , her eyes occasionally wandering over the face of her master, who seemed to be sleeping but yet was not asleep.
A few maids, newly assigned but could hardly get involved in anything, could only stand aside with their heads lowered. Chun Lan withdrew her gaze, looked at the nearest maid and said in a low voice, “Go and see if big sister Ming Yue has arrived yet. It’s time for His Highness to drink his medicine!”
“Yes.” The maid strode out of the door with light steps, her dress in her hand.
A short while later, Ming Yue could be seen walking in gracefully, followed by someone from the Imperial Medicine Hall delivering the medicine.
“Your Highness, it is time to drink the medicine!” Ming Yue said in a soft voice as she walked over to the chair with the medicine bowl in her hands.
Bewildered eyes flickered slightly as their gaze fell indifferently on Ming Yue’s worried face, before moving away impassively.
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 66 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
“Your Highness, the medicine is not bitter. His Majesty specially asked the Imperial Physician to add licorice, if it is, there are also candied jujubes prepared for you!”“――I am not sick,” he spoke, after a long time, slowly.
Ming Yue sighed softly; she really did not know how to persuade him. If His Highness got stubborn, not even a few horses would be able to pull him, let alone her!
“Yes, Your Highness is not sick, but as a matter of fact, this is not some kind of medicine to cure illnesses, but to nurse the body!” Chun Lan could not help but say.
ZiLi kept his mouth shut, ignoring the persuasion of the two.
While the master and servants were at a deadlock, a shrill chant was suddenly heard from outside the door, “His Majesty has arrived!”
“Paying respect to His Majesty!” As soon as a figure in bright yellow entered through the screen door, the cadre of people in the hall immediately knelt down in unison.
“You may dispense with curtseying.” Hong Xu flicked his sleeve and walked straight to the person slumped in the rattan chair, collected his cold and imposing aura and said with a slowed down voice, “What, you are again not willing to drink the medicine?”
“Yes, that is right, Your Majesty.” Seeing that ZiLi had no inclination to speak, Ming Yue had no choice but to chime in and reply.
Hong Xu lifted ZiLi up, sat down, and took him in his arms and embraced him from behind, then took the bowl of medicine from Ming Yue’s hand, spooned a spoonful, and brought it to his mouth, saying, “Be good, open your mouth. You can only get better after drinking the medicine!”
“I――am――not――sick.” ZiLi spoke stressing each word, after turning his head and staring at him.
When confronted with ZiLi’s attitude full of provocation, the maids who had been following him from the beginning did not bother, but the newly assigned maids could not help but feel a sense of trepidation; no one had ever dared to meet His Majesty without saluting and speak to him in such a tone. Even the most favored Imperial concubines of the harem did not dare to cross the line.
Hong Xu’s expression looked vexed, but when faced with ZiLi’s face, which was as pale as a petal of a pear blossom, his expression could not help but soften again, “Are you afraid to drink the medicinal concoction? If that is the case, then so be it! Lin De, present the pills recently developed by Imperial Physician Li.”
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 66 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Steward Lin, who had been waiting for an order on the side the whole time, hurriedly presented a white jade bottle.“Although it is not as effective, it is better to take something than nothing at all!” Hong Xu placed a pill into ZiLi’s mouth, preventing him from refusing. Although ZiLi wanted to clench his teeth, the pill coming into contact with his saliva produced a bitter taste, forcing ZiLi to take the water that was handed to him and throw it back.
*Cough, cough* as he was a bit too hasty, ZiLi choked and coughed.
Hong Xu quickly patted him gently on his back.
A young eunuch bowed at the door and entered, moved closer to Lin De and whispered something in his ear, who then reported back with his hands up his sleeves, “Your Majesty, Prince Qing is outside the palace hall, shouting that he wants to see His Highness of Bei Ling!”
Hong Xu’s face showed displeasure and said in a heavy voice, “We have not yet informed――”
Before he could finish speaking, he heard Hong Qing’s loud voice, “Move aside, or this Prince will throw you in the air if you stop me again. Xiao Yu’er 2 , Xiao Yu’er, I’ve come to see you! They moved you to Xia He Palace without letting me know, so I made a trip to Ming Yang Palace 3 for nothing!”
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 66 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
Hong Xu frowned and glared at Hong Qing who had appeared in the doorway and said, “You really are becoming more and more unruly――"“Geez, Imperial Elder Brother, rules are made by people, who can justify the rules we follow?” Hong Qing waved his hand to indicate it was pointless, then ran to ZiLi with a look as if he had been wronged, grabbed ZiLi’s hand and said, “Xiao Yu’er, you are too heartless. You have been gone for more than a month, and Imperial Elder Brother had not issued a statement for people to look for you, so I had to secretly send someone to look for you. If I had found you earlier, you would not have had to suffer so much――”
“Hong Qing!” Hong Xu interrupted him with a berate.
Hong Qing turned around in surprise and saw that his Imperial Elder Brother’s face was gloomy, and hostility could be seen in his eyes, which was clearly a sign of anger. His Imperial Elder Brother was actually angry with him! This had not happened since the death of their mother. He was more surprised than frightened.
Hong Xu looked at Hong Qing, who was staring at him, and slowly said, “You have been told that you are unruly and yet you do still not recognize it. Don’t you realize that this kind of nagging will affect the patient’s rest?”
Hong Qing, who had always been unconcerned, really felt, when he heard Hong Xu say this, that his Imperial Elder Brother was angry about this, so he hurriedly gave an ‘oh’, realizing his wrong, and covered his mouth to remain silent. But his gaze kept burning on ZiLi, whose face was somehow even paler than before.
Translation Notes
Comments
Post a Comment